10 Common Savings Mistakes

Guys need to save money; it’s that simple. While many guys either can’t or won’t save, some make earnest efforts, only to undermine them by making savings mistakes. Here are the 10 most common savings mistakes that you need to watch out for.

1. Not getting the best rate

It pays to shop for virtually everything — even your money market or savings account. Do an online search rather than simply plunking your money down at your local bank. Yes, we’re only talking about a difference of a few tenths of a percentage point, but look at it this way: In the time it takes you to drive to the bank, you can search hundreds of interest rates online.

2. Ignoring inflation

If you think a tank of gas will be the same price when you’re 50 as it was when you were 20, think again. You can do the math yourself or you can go to a professional advisor, but you need to factor inflation into your savings. Either way, you need to know how much your money will be worth down the line so you know how much money you’ll really need.

3. Saving on the fly on an unrealistic budget

Saving is a lifelong commitment. You can’t make it a priority one month and then forget about it for the rest of the year. Guys who win the savings game make it part of their everyday lives. That means keeping an eye on expenses on a monthly basis and putting any surplus you have into your savings. But even more than that, it means discipline. Successful savers don’t tap into their savings unless it’s a real emergency. And if they do, they replace what they “borrow,” including interest.

4. Not setting concrete goals

It’s almost impossible to save without concrete goals. The idea is to figure out how much you need and to get there. If you don’t have a goal, you won’t be able to measure success and you won’t be able to chart progress. You may have had a great year, but if you don’t know what you need to contribute to your savings, you won’t know if you can really afford that toy, or if you need to duplicate that great year just to get on track.

5. Saving 10% post- rather than pre-tax

Most financial planners tell you to save 10%, but too many guys do so after tax, which means that they really aren’t saving 10% of their income. Like so many things in finance, it’s your gross — not your net — that counts. If you only save based on your net income, you’ll take a big drop in quality of life when it comes time to retire.

Stop blowing all your money on drinks with the guys and believing all those gimmicks your bank throws at you…